Green light for unmanned speed cameras in bicycle streets
Flemish municipalities will soon be allowed to install fixed speed cameras and trajectory speed controls on bicycle streets. This was decided by the Flemish regional government, Het Nieuwsblad reported on Monday.
The speed limit in cycling zones or bicycle streets is 30 km/hr, and cars, mopeds and high-speed e-bikes are not allowed to overtake cyclists. In reality, however, this speed limit is unenforced, as speeding in a cycling zone can only be detected by police officers on the spot.
This is why it will soon be possible to use unmanned speed cameras or trajectory speed controls, which measure the average speed of a vehicle over a certain distance. "With this adaptation of the rules, we are giving municipalities and police zones more and better possibilities to enforce the speed limit in cycling zones efficiently," says Flemish Mobility minister Lydia Peeters.
Growing popularity
Peeters announced in April that she wanted to see more than 30 per cent of journeys in the region made by bicycle by 2040. In Belgium as a whole, cycling has become increasingly popular in recent years, according to figures from the Belgian Federal Public Service Mobility.
According to the agency, at the beginning of 2023, cycling was the main mode of transport for 14.1 per cent of Belgian commuters, compared to 7.8 per cent in 2005 and 11.1 per cent in 2017. No other mode of transport in Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels has grown more strongly over the years. The rise of electric bikes is partly responsible.
Along with the steep rise in popularity of cycling, the death toll among cyclists reached an all-time high in 2022.
#FlandersNewsService | A street with bicycle priority in Borgerhout, Antwerp © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
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